December

If you are what you eat, what does your reading selection say about you?

In a world where the feeling of information overload resonates with nearly all working in education, some of CORE Education’s most ferocious readers have reviewed their best professional read of 2016 in the hope we can help with any feeling of ‘infowhelm’ you may have.

Our curated What are we reading — the best of 2016 professional reading list is a snapshot of recent and current literature which has been added to our CORE Library collection. This collection — a mix of print, e-readings, and research — supports our CORE whānau to keep current and innovative, as we work across Aotearoa’s schools, kura, and centres.

Your local public library can get you a copy of any of the books reviewed here, if your school library’s Professional Development Collection doesn’t.

Every organisation within and outside of education faces, at some point, the need to address issues around trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, or results. In fact, these are areas we continually work on, in, and across our teams. Lencioni’s work promotes these five areas as the necessary components of a successful, functioning team. If any are absent, a team will not be successful in achieving its common goal or desired results.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is an easy-to-read fable created by Lencioni to illustrate his theory in real terms for leaders, or for anyone working in, or with, collaborative groups or teams. The fable follows the efforts of a newly-appointed leader who has been introduced to an organisation with several dysfunctional practices. She uses Lencioni’s theory to observe the staff and then to slowly address their areas of need in terms of working successfully as a team. There are challenges along the way — as there always are when working with other people — and the fable shows practical ways to introduce the model and then address the five dysfunctions. At the end of the fable, Lencioni provides a series of chapters outlining the five dysfunctions in detail, along with some strategies for leaders.

CORE facilitators use this book to support CoLs, Clusters, teaching teams, and many other groups, both within the CORE Whānau and with our clients. Facilitation, teaching, and educational leadership are all human-centred professions, and this book shows you in clear, easy-to-understand ways how to ensure that you can be part of, or lead, highly collaborative groups. Combine this theory with your organisation’s cultural values and with our tikanga Māori — for example, using a wānanga setting to build teamwork — and you can build powerful, connected teams. (Also available on Audible as an audiobook)

Before I had even started Chapter 3, I had pulled several valuable quotes from Michael Fullan and Joanna Quinn’s book, Coherence (2016), for proposals and papers! It is deceptively easy to read, with a framework, detailed examples, infographics, and guidelines. The book, I feel, would support facilitators, kaiako/educators, and leaders/kaiarataki to work with demanding political requirements, while also building the conditions for genuine change, shared aspirations … and learning — with the learner very firmly at the centre — “…through purposeful action and interaction, working on capacity, clarity, precision of practice, transparency, monitoring of progress, and continuous correction“.

Some of the recommendations for leaders include:

Engage as a co-learner;

Support the growth of leadership from the middle

Recognise that “shifting practices” will come from all areas of an organisation;

Balance push and pull strategies;

Create “safe places for risk taking”; and,

Encourage the growth of human capacity in every way possible.

Fullan and Quinn define coherence as the “[s]hared depth of understanding about the purpose and nature of the work“, as opposed to structure, alignment, and strategy. Their framework for coherence making is based on 1) focusing direction, 2) cultivating collaborative cultures, 3) deepening learning, and 4) securing accountability. To achieve coherence, all four need to be “addressed simultaneously and continuously”. There is plenty of room built in for the human factor within the change process, including the recognition that many in the education profession are working “under conditions of overload, fragmentation and policy churn“.

There are also, for me, some insightful ‘myth busters’, including a sometimes misplaced notion that to “gel under the reality of action” collaboration is the key. However, although important, “collaboration as an end in itself is a waste of time”. To make sure that collaboration is effective it also requires the “discipline and specificity of collective deliberation”. The people who are involved in the collaboration need to have a clear idea of why they are collaborating, to the point where everyone in the kura / school / centre or region can “talk the walk” (i.e., articulate the key ideas and actions behind any initiative for change).

By the time I had finished reading the book, it was bristling with the little stickies I use to mark nuggets of ‘idea gold’. The picture presented by Coherence grew as I read it and the pieces all started to gain detail and colour. I would highly recommend this as a quick read — and then something to return to for a follow up read!

An interesting year indeed, for me, in terms of reading. I have borrowed more books than ever before and read less. I refuse to enter the ‘busyness-trap’-type discussion, I just think I am changing as a reader. I skim and scan, I read online, I devour magazines and articles, and I enjoy reading for pleasure, losing myself in a book that is as far removed from my real life as possible. Having said that, I have a stack of partially read books that I can’t wait to dive into as the end of year chaos settles…

Our educational landscape is undergoing change at a fast rate of knots, and my reading choice of late aligns with the change theme:

Change: learn to love it, learn to lead it by Richard Gerver is a great easy read. It reads as if Gerver is speaking directly to the reader, inspiring, empowering, and encouraging. Following a carefully woven path; from exploring change, to questioning change; to developing and leading change, this book is a refreshing read in changing times. Sharing and reflecting on his journey, Gerver invites us to welcome change.

This book speaks to me as a facilitator, an educator, and personally; encouraging and embracing change with a hunger for continuous improvement.

Whatever you are grappling with now, I thoroughly recommend that you read Richard’s Change, to help you reflect on where you’ve come from and maybe set some new pathways and goals.

I came across this book when I was in the States and it seemed very apt for where CORE is as we transition from a company focused on Ministry of Education contracts, to one operating in an increasingly competitive environment.

The main premise of Godin’s argument focuses on the need to be remarkable or become invisible in a hectic marketplace. Godin has taken the 7 P’s of marketing principles (price, product, promotion etc) and added the ‘Purple Cow’ as a way of standing out in a crowd.

For Godin, though, it is deeper than how you promote yourself — it isn’t about painting any old cow purple, it is about developing something so fundamentally different it will become a purple cow. It’s about pushing the boundaries right from the conception of an idea.

The book is quite small, and at first glance seems like an easy read, but it is packed with great insights and examples of modern marketing which certainly get you thinking. In fact, I think it is worth a second read after a few months to ensure you have digested all those ideas and mulled on how you could adapt them.

A couple of key takeaways to whet your appetite:
“It’s much riskier to be safe and blend in with the masses, and it’s safer to be risky and set yourself apart from the rest” – whilst it is scary to be brave and take risks, it should be safer for the business in the long-run to take some well thought-out risks.

And then there are the sneezers — someone who spreads an “ideavirus.” They’re more than willing to tell the world about an awesome product or service, and every market needs them. — our role is to find and woo sneezers.

It is an enjoyable book, and one I would encourage anyone to read if they are interested in how we need to position ourselves in this challenging new market.

This book has a simple and practical message — ask different questions; seek multiple perspectives; and understand the system. The writers suggest that developing these habits helps leaders move from ‘managing the probable’ to ‘leading the possible.’ I’d suggest these habits of mind are useful for everyone. I had to buy my own copy of the book as I had so many yellow stickies in the first few pages of the CORE copy. Now I’ve got a well dog-eared version.

The book powerfully uses storytelling, and is a bit of a page turner as you get involved in the lives of the protagonists. Their story is interwoven with the lessons about putting the simple habits into practice — by knowing yourself, breaking the old habits, and trying something new (all not so simple). The chapter headings are also wonderful draw cards. For example, ‘Make rational use of human irrationality’, ‘Grow your people to be bigger than your problems.’

The writers know their stuff — all theory is referenced; and they know New Zealanders — they have worked closely with government and industry leaders. They are kind to each other and kind to the leaders represented in the book. I’m recommending this one to everyone at the moment.

Innovation in industry has focused broadly on two strategies. One is the radical improvement in product performance pushed by breakthrough technologies. The other is improved product performance based on users’ needs. Both strategies focus on improving a product or service. With its user-centred approach, however, the latter strategy sits within the realm of ‘design-thinking’.

In his book, Design-Driven Innovation, Roberto Verganti suggests a third strategy: the radical innovation on the meaning of a product. This approach, he suggests, creates ‘disruption’ in the market. Think of Apple with its design and release of the first smartphone (the iPhone). Apple innovated on the meaning of an existing product. In doing so, it pushed the possibilities of technology and created a new market. People embraced this change quickly. They then viewed, used, and engaged with their mobile phones in a completely different, new, and ‘smarter’ way. It was unexpected and it ‘disrupted’ the mobile phone market. An entire industry then followed Apple’s lead.

In terms of education, design thinking, can be a useful strategy to change and shape the systems that have a direct impact on policy-making and educational practice. With its user-centred focus (student, leader, teacher, parent…), it enables innovative, but often incremental change. However, Verganti argues that it is limited by the parameters that are defined by a user’s current beliefs, values, knowledge, and experiences. Incremental change in education has real value, but, with its reliance on a user-focus, do we only design different ways of implementing change based on old systems and processes, improving upon our own and others’ outdated ideas and beliefs? Is this type of change too slow? Is it truly effective? Is it enough?

Even though Design-Driven Innovation is not an educational book, it really made me think about the ideas presented in the context of education. The world around us is changing rapidly. For our children’s sake, do we keep relying on an incremental approach to changing education? Can we afford to rely on a user-focus? Or do we design something that is totally out of people’s realm of thinking? Like Apple did with its innovative new products introduced in 2007, disrupting the mobile phone market. Should educators and policymakers break away totally from past and present ideologies to disrupt the status quo? Are we too busy innovating on the form and function of products and services within education, and have we neglected to look deeper and innovate on the meaning of education? Furthermore, if we were to do this, what would it look like? Is the education system ready for disruptive innovation? Do we have a choice?

Every day we talk to different people about different things, but actually, how effective are we at understanding other people’s needs, and helping them to understand ours? This book was definitely my ‘best read of the year’. Once I finished it I started again at the beginning. I wanted to be able to remember each page word for word. I wanted to be able to remember each strategy and each occasion to use each strategy.

This is a very easy and engaging read. You will find yourself thinking of different people as the author helps you to look at yourself, and how your communication style may not actually be helping you get through to the different people you need to communicate with. Whether you are engaging with adults or children, in business, in schools, or in your personal life, this book will have something for everyone.

If you are familiar with Carol Dweck’s concept of growth mindset, and the power of ‘not yet’, or perhaps John Hattie’s mind frames, then The Innovator’s Mindset is for you. Starting with questions, with the learner firmly at the centre, Couros challenges educators to consider:

“What is best for this learner?”

The book is clearly structured, with questions for discussion at the end of each chapter. These serve as critical self-review, and opportunities to identify next steps. A taster of topics covered include: relationships, leadership, culture and overcoming barriers to innovation in education. One thing that resonates well with me is the ‘Less is more’, a concept that we need to address if we want quality education that empowers our future learners. Couros starts with knowing WHY we must change, and identifies eight characteristics of an Innovator’s Mindset:

In summary, the by-line of the text summarises why you might want to add The Innovator’s Mindset to your professional reading. Educators and leaders — what are you waiting for?‘Empower Learning, Unleash Talent and Lead a Culture of Creativity’

UDL in the Cloud!: How to Design and Deliver Online Education Using Universal Design for LearningAs a facilitator of blended learning, I found this book a MUST Read! I particularly liked the daughter/father team approach, and the practical nature of the book, with useful tips throughout. For example, to build engagement online, offer multiple ways of getting to know your learners. What about a 6-minute video, or an online survey where learners can share goals; how they might manage their time, and ways to measure the impact of their learning.

‘UDL assumes learner variability’ (p. 165)

To ensure we are motivating, engaging, and connecting all our learners, Novak encourages us to explore learning in a meaningful, authentic way, to ensure learners are encouraged to think critically and be creative. Facilitators need to consider their social and cognitive presence in an online environment, alongside the learners themselves. Novak asks us to consider:

What do you want your learners to remember in two years’ time?

I highly recommend this book for those embarking on online/blended facilitation, developing online courses, and anyone who wishes to ensure that their learning environment is inclusive, for all.

I have been a member of Facebook for longer than I have been in New Zealand. I have had a wonderful, career-defining seven years in Aotearoa and continue to love it with as much passion as the day I arrived. It has been seven years of pedagogy, intense learning, and exploration. However, I have been part of Facebook, posting, sharing and connecting since 2006. It has become part of my everyday existence, checking my feed and catching up with friends all over the world. If anything, I feel more a citizen of Facebook, than I do any country I am from or have lived in.

Why?

Although I hold a UK passport, I’m not really part of the system anymore. Of course, I remain proud of where I come from, and happy to laugh when declaring myself a ‘Pom,’ but when you do not live the experiences, you never really feel part of them.

Likewise, I’ve only been in New Zealand for seven years. I do not hold a New Zealand passport, nor am I a full citizen of this country. I’m proud to be associated with New Zealand education and New Zealanders, a people who have embraced me into their culture and whānau, however, I am not really a Kiwi.

I feel very much as a citizen of the real world, but perhaps more importantly, a citizen of Social Media. So, if I don’t really ‘fit’ as a citizen of the United Kingdom or New Zealand, what am I left with? Seven years on Twitter and 10 on Facebook, connecting, collaborating and sharing with people from all over the world.

As I hit my mid-thirties, I remind myself that I am not a digital native- a wonderful noun, defined as:

digital native
noun

a person born or brought up during the age of digital technology and so familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age.

“the digital tools that are reshaping our economy make more sense to young digital natives than to members of older generations”

I, like many of you, remember a time before the Internet, when email didn’t exist in the mainstream, and long before the days of Skype. I most certainly do not look back at those times with a rose tint. Technology has not only made my life easier, it has enabled me to connect with friends and family ‘back home’ effortlessly. However, this has been a process of growth and adoption, pushing boundaries, and learning from online mistakes. Throughout, Facebook has been a constant. Not native, but still, very much at home in a digital world.

There is certainly a distinct difference between being at home in a digital world and being digitally native. And so, I think of the students we work with every day. Those who have been on social media and using apps like Snapchat for as long as their memories can recall. In 2011, ABC News reported estimates of 7.5 million Facebook users under the age of 13-years-old, with almost 5 million under the age of 10. What’s more alarming is that these figures come from a survey of just 20 million users under the age of 21 in the United States. This equates to 37.5% of users on Facebook being underage. My point is that guiding the use of social media and the many associated challenges, does NOT just fall into the realm of secondary teachers, it’s everywhere.

We are operating in a world of digitally native students. Just recently, I watched a SoulPancake clip on Youtube. It opens with the following:

“Our generation is stuck in this unique position of trying to create ourselves. As if growing up and making sense of the world wasn’t enough, we have this second space where we are forging our identities. One where no generation before us has set the rules. I am as much a citizen of Snapchat as I am of New Zealand.” (Soulpancake 2016)

It is this mind frame we cannot ignore. The sense of belonging felt by the learners of today towards online communities is equal to, if not greater than, their sense of belonging to a country. Coupled with the global transience of people, many of the students we teach now simply do not have the same affinity to their country of birth, because they no longer live in it! Many teachers I have spoken with recently struggle to understand this. How can a student feel such pride in being part of an online community? But they do.

Social media is the norm

We are gradually moving into a time of communication and interaction via social media becoming the norm. A small town in Granada, Spain has dropped their traditional customer service in favour of interacting via social media.

They are not alone. Post Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast United States, Twitter became an essential lifeline for those waiting for emergency announcements and information as to how to stay safe.

Whether it’s celebrities, TV show accounts, or popular online personalities, our students of today rely heavily on their interactions with social media. As they tackle the minefield of social development and interactions, they crave information to keep up with their peers. And so, it’s logical that they turn to social networking to achieve this.

Social media as a laxative for the brain

Surely, it, therefore, falls to us as educators to instill the same offline boundaries into the learners of today?

Quite recently, I heard Dane Baptiste (a British Comedian and writer) describe social media as a ‘laxative for the brain.’ For the first time, my social media and networking world stopped to reflect on what I’d just heard. With the recent US election overflow on Twitter, I realised very abruptly that he was right. Please do not misunderstand me. This didn’t mean for one moment that my love of online connections, collaboration, and sharing dwindled in any way. However, scrolling the rhetoric and diatribe from both sides of the electoral parties, it is easy to see why such a metaphor works. The ‘flamers’ were all too apparent. Their conviction and language use appeared to often be without forethought or reflection, and the conversations often spanned multiple time zones and countries. Digging in a little deeper, it immediately became obvious that much of the internet noise was not coming from 13 – 25-year-olds, but from those who could be judged to know better. Is this the message we want to send to learners and social medias of tomorrow? The evils and perils of online interaction will always exist; however, the Key Competencies must be extended to online interactions and behaviour. If we cannot manage ourselves and relate to others effectively, the hateful noise will simply never cease.

Finding the balance

Whether you see social media use as a problem or an incredible resource, there can be no denying that it is firmly entrenched in our society. Learners of today value their online interactions as highly as their offline conversations. Our role as teachers and educators has never been more crucial in helping them find the balance, behaviour, and beauty that exists in all their lives.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an English idiom. It refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image or that an image of a subject conveys its meaning or essence more effectively than a description does. Wikipedia

Indigenous cultures from around the world have used pictures and art forms to express a moment in time or tell a story for centuries. For Māori, this has/is often in kōwhaiwhai, whakairo, and tukutuku.

As we approach the end of our school year, we pause to reflect on our journey, our progress, our challenges, and successes. For us, as facilitators, we have the privilege of working alongside educators, supporting them to reflect on their inquiry. One tool we use, is Story Hui.

“Story Hui is inspired by ancient forms of storytelling incorporating speech, sign, gesture, and simple drawing”. Story Hui allows us to capture an image (or sketchnote) of a learning journey. It enables us to dig deeper into how learning was before an intervention, explore the inquiry or action, and reflect on the outcome or evidence. We capture this in pictorial form, and in brief notes during a five-minute sharing slot or session. A further five minutes is dedicated to digging deeper into the story, being mindful of supporting the storyteller to articulate the journey, and reflect on progress. The audience are the people in the room. The story told impacts on educators. As the audience, they are drawn into the story, invited to question and go deeper into the story. This interaction celebrates the journey, and allows the storyteller to dig deeper into their story of practice. I always conclude the Story Hui celebration with capturing an image of storyteller and artist.

Today, for the first time, I completed a Story Hui with an educator and her class as the audience. The benefits were numerous. The students listened intently to the learning journey of their teacher, hearing her challenges, successes, and “aha!” moments. They heard themselves in the story, as participants in the journey. The students could dig deeper into the story during the questioning session, carefully phrasing their questions to focus on the teacher’s journey. Acknowledging the progress that they have all made — feeling the celebration and success of the journey —was very rewarding. They were immensely proud of their teacher and themselves. Next steps for this teacher might be to capture a Story Hui of some of her learners’ journeys.

What is it that sets Story Hui apart? The focus is entirely on the storyteller and their journey. There is no place for ‘hijacking’ the journey and slipping it to the story of another. It focuses on a change/action/inquiry that an educator has undertaken, looking at the progress to date. It concludes with where we are at NOW. Sure, you can reflect on it and use it as a guide to shape the next part of your journey, but it is a story of progress to date. It is interactive. It is captured visually and via notes. It demands the attention of the audience. It is a celebration, a ‘warts and all’ celebration, is not prepared for, and is directly from the heart, mind, or soul of the storyteller. It is not judged or challenged, and it is valued, acknowledged, and celebrated.

I wonder if Story Hui will see itself adding to the reshaping of reporting?. I wonder if learners will create/share their own Story Hui, unpacking their ‘holistic’ progress?. I wonder if learners are able to feel the power of progress they make?.

Karen Spencer’s keynote at uLearn16 was captured by Mary Brake of http://www.reflectiongraphics.com/. I had the privilege of hearing this keynote. Revisiting this image enables me to revisit the learning and reflect on many of the key points. A wondering I have is, how can we use sketchnoting with learners to maximise impact? If you capture a learning journey in sketchnote form, it has passed through your filter; you have synthesised the message. If you visit the sketchnote of another, it alerts you to recall poignant messages, and maybe go further, looking at what has been included, and what has been left out. How could a culture of sketchnoting/whakaahua enhance your class, school, learning journey as you unpack your inquiries? My colleague, Janelle Riki, explained to me the deeper essence of the word whakaahua, (which is often used in Māori for picture or photograph) to emanate the essence of someone, something in a picture form.
“Stories are embedded into every aspect of our daily lives like a finely woven korowai cloak. I think it’s exciting to be able to measure the shifts in learning outcomes, teacher practice and whanau and community engagement through the myriad of stories that are just waiting to be told.” – Jason Ruakere

I have previously blogged about mindfulness in a post titled You Matter. A book I am currently reading has a section of mindful art quotes. How could we use this skill in class to empower our learners to explore, adopt, unpack, and ‘own’ their own story in quotes? Could the art of creating imagery or artwork around a quote or phrase, support in adopting or automating of it, and the behaviour associated with it? I am thinking of this with regard to values, vision, anchor charts, and learning phrases, or quotes.

Recently, as TEDxChristchurch came to a close, we were offered a taonga. Poet Sophie Rae returned to the stage and offered a piece entitled, “Things we are confused about now”. Sophie captured sound bites from each of our TEDx speakers, making connections, offering challenges, and gifting us an opportunity to go deeper, and make a difference. This got me wondering. So often we capture a learning journey visually, using a tool or framework such as Story Hui. How often do we capture a journey using sound bites, capturing key ideas, making connections and going further? Just as sketchnoting works for some learners, I am sure ‘sound biting’ could work for others. The talent and skill of Sophie captured the day for me in phrases, one liners, provocations…. Will I remember more from her summation than I will from the TED talks? For others to summarise and capture a journey, it has been through their thought process, their filter, and interpreted by them. What if we all made our own sound bites? What if learners captured their learning in sound bites, promptly, if not immediately after their learning? How could we make this a regular part of our learning journeys?

“Inspiration occurs when ideas collide.” TedxChristchurch

Yesterday I captured sketchnotes, well, more like notes really, from the talks. Today, I am going to capture sound bites, from the five talks that impacted deeply on me, phrases that I will speak and record as I attempt to embed my ‘ideas colliding’.

Lucie Ozanne — Researcher: Care networks are all we have. We must CARE. We must make a difference for those around us at all times, so that in times of crisis or adversity our networks sustain and support us. I must explore the concept of Time banks!

Barry Vercoe — Digital Musicologist: The future’s not ours to predict, it is ours to design! Support the crazy ideas!

Grant Ryan — inventor: We need the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) of being predator-free soon! We need the return of the cacophony of bird sound!

All of the talks were livestreamed and will be available on the TEDxChristchurch website soon.

I heard and saw the talks. I captured them in sketchnote form and sound bite. I used the sketchnotes to create the sound bites. I know many of these messages are staying with me, shaping me, causing me to think and behave in new ways.

Just as no one-size-fits-all, no one-style-of-capturing, synthesising, and recording, or journey works for all. How can we maximise learning in our classes, schools, and clusters by modelling, inviting, or even demanding, regular reflection in a variety of methods? How can we whakairo the learner story?

Please share in the comments below how you are capturing the learning journey…